


Mood lighting

by aconitum (sugarandspace)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: College Student Stiles Stilinski, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Canon, Romantic Gestures, Supportive Stiles Stilinski, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27198779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarandspace/pseuds/aconitum
Summary: Stiles plans a romantic evening for the two of them. It doesn't go exactly as planned.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 10
Kudos: 115





	Mood lighting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm back with another hurt/comfort fic, this time with Derek hurting and Stiles doing the comforting!
> 
> Fun fact: nearly gave this fic the title "mood lighting (the mood is fear)" :D
> 
> Warning for vague mentions of Hale fire! Please let me know if you think there's something I forgot to tag!

Derek opens the door to his apartment and realises immediately that Stiles is already there. 

There are several things that prove it. Stiles’ shoes are by the door and his duffel bag and backpack are dumped right next to them, no doubt full of laundry Stiles has been too busy to do at the college. Derek can also pick up a scent that’s so uniquely Stiles, and he can hear noises from the kitchen.

Derek is pretty sure Stiles hasn’t realised that he’s arrived, or else he would have his arms full of the man already. Out of the two of them, Stiles is definitely the one who struggles with the long-distance aspect of their relationship more or at least is the one who more openly shows it. Derek tries his best to visit Stiles at the college every now and then, but it being his last year there Stiles is usually spending the weekends studying. The longer weekends when it makes sense to drive back to Beacon Hills he spends almost entirely with Derek, which had led to Derek giving him the key to his apartment a few months back. Derek has to admit, he loves to come home to someone he loves, to the smell of food, and to a brightly lit apartment.

Only this time, the lights are off.

It definitely strikes as odd. Stiles has a habit of leaving all the lights on and normally Derek would be able to follow the trail of lights and find where in the apartment Stiles was, but all he can now see is the dim lighting in the part of the living room he can see from the short hallway he’s currently in.

He takes off his coat and shoes and walks further into the apartment, and is surprised to see the candles lighting the living room. There must be over ten of them, tea lights and bigger candles placed around the room in a way that gives a soft, even lighting to the whole room. The sight of them makes his heartbeat pick up slightly and he can feel anxiety settle low in his gut.

Derek doesn’t have time to think about them more before he’s spotted by Stiles. He’s in the kitchen, the open plan of the living room/ kitchen area providing Derek the perfect view of the pots and pans on the stove.

And the perfect view of his boyfriend, who smiles widely as he turns away from the stove and sees Derek.

“Derek!” 

Derek doesn't have time to do anything else except open his arms before he’s being squeezed to death by a tight hug which he returns just as tightly.

“I missed you,” Derek says against Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles smells like chicken and curry and under it all like himself and Derek has missed that scent so much. It’s been a couple of weeks since Stiles last came home for a weekend and his scent had almost worn off from the apartment.

“I missed you too,” Stiles replies. He pulls away from the hug only to get closer again, this time connecting their lips in a soft kiss that doesn’t stay like that for long. They both get lost in it and it’s only the smell of food that reminds Derek that this was supposed to just be a kiss hello.

“Stiles,” he says and pulls away a little, only for Stiles to follow his lips.

“Hmm?”

“The food,” Derek tries again but doesn’t protest when Stiles comes in for another kiss. 

“Who needs food when I have you,” Stiles says and finally pulls back to look Derek up and down slowly and in a way one could describe as exaggerated if they didn’t know how open Stiles can be about things like this. His tone turns dreamy when he pats Derek’s chest and continues, “You’re not only a snack, you’re a whole meal.”

“I have no idea what that means,” Derek says and he can see that Stiles is about to explain, so he rushes out, “And I don’t want to know. I’m hungry and I’m sure you are too. Let’s have dinner and then later we can see who's eating who.”

Stiles’ eyes widen in surprise and Derek uses the moment of distraction to step away from his boyfriend and head to the kitchen. Stiles follows close behind and blocks Derek’s way to the stove.

“It’s almost finished,” he says as he stirs the pot that smells like curry. “Can you find the plates? I was thinking we could eat in the living room?”

Derek nods and goes to the cabinet that holds the plates. He takes out two and finds them both utensils before filling a pitcher with water and bringing it to the coffee table along with two glasses. He stops and looks at the candles, feeling uneasiness rise again.

He tells himself it’s stupid and he has to get over it. He doesn’t want to ruin the night Stiles has so nicely planned for them. Plenty of people burn candles and nothing bad happens. It’s fine.

Derek is pulled from his thoughts by Stiles’ voice.

“It’s ready!”

Derek tears his eyes away from the candle in the middle of the table and goes back to the kitchen where Stiles has already plated their food.

“It smells amazing,” Derek says honestly and kisses Stiles’ cheek. Derek had been surprised at first when he learned that Stiles knows how to cook not only decent meals but ones that taste really good. It had made sense after Stiles had explained that his father wasn’t the best cook nor did he have time to cook often and that Stiles had learned to cook to make sure his father would be eating healthy meals instead of ones that are fresh from the freezer.

“Thank you,” Stiles replies and they take their plates to the living room where they sit on the couch and eat while Stiles tells him about things that had happened in college and Derek fills him in on things that have happened in Beacon Hills while he’s been gone. It’s almost enough to distract him from the candles, but the uncomfortable feeling stays steady in the background.

After they finish eating, Stiles puts on a movie and curls up against Derek on the couch. Derek ends up reclining in the corner of the couch while Stiles is practically laying on top of him, his legs between Derek’s and his head on Derek’s chest.

Derek finds it difficult to focus on the movie or relax, even when the position they are in is usually one that brings him so much peace. His eyes drift from candle to candle and his brain keeps coming up with scenarios of how one of them could fall or how the one on the windowsill could make the curtains set aflame, even when they are a couple of feet away from the candle that’s safely placed in the middle of the windowsill. 

He knows his thoughts aren’t rational, but fear so rarely is.

“What’s going on?” Stiles asks, and when Derek looks at him he sees that Stiles’ attention is now on him rather than the movie that he has now paused, and he’s propped up on his elbows against Derek’s chest in a way that gives Derek close to no way to escape his searching eyes.

“What do you mean?” Derek asks, and it’s more to buy himself more time than it is to fool his boyfriend. Stiles is way too observant to buy his act.

“You are tense and your heart is beating kind of fast,” Stiles says in a gentle tone as he keeps looking at Derek with slightly furrowed brows.

“I’m sorry,” Derek says. They were supposed to have a good evening and now he’s made Stiles worry, and the fear is paired with disappointment. Disappointment at himself, for letting something as small as candles affect him so much.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Stiles says. He leans up a little to place a soft kiss on Derek’s forehead and Derek feels his face relax from the frown it had fallen into. “Tell me what I can do to help?”

“It’s stupid,” Derek says, hoping that Stiles will let it go and they can go back to watching the movie. Maybe he just needs time and he’ll be able to get over it.

“I want to know,” Stiles assures him. “If you want to tell me.”

Stiles knows him so well, and Derek appreciates the out he’s offering. It’s been difficult for Derek to open up, to let Stiles in. But this is the first relationship in a really long while when Derek has wanted to try.

“It’s the candles,” he says eventually, feeling like the admission is bigger than it probably is in reality. 

“The candles?” Stiles asks, cocking his head to the side a little in confusion.

“I don’t like-” Derek starts before the words get stuck in his throat. But he’s gotten this far and he wants to tell Stiles. He knows Stiles won’t judge him. “I don’t like having fire in the apartment.”

Stiles gasps quietly when he realises what Derek means. Derek can hear his heart picking up before he scrambles up from the couch and walks around the room, blowing all the candles out as he does. Derek closes his eyes and listens to the sound of Stiles' footsteps and the small click of the lamp on the side table as Stiles turns it on.

Soon he can feel a familiar weight settle against him again and he opens his eyes to look at Stiles in the soft glow of the lamp.

Derek feels sick, and he honestly can’t tell if it’s from the smell of blown-out candles or the look of worry and guilt on Stiles’ face. 

“I’m so sorry,” Stiles says sincerely. “I didn’t think.”

“Not your fault,” Derek says immediately. He doesn’t want Stiles to feel bad about this, he was simply trying to plan a romantic evening for them. It’s Derek who has stupid associations with something as normal as candles and he tells Stiles as much. “You couldn’t have known.”

“But I could have guessed,” Stiles says as he worms his arms around Derek’s torso and hugs him tight, his whole weight pressing Derek to the couch in the most grounding way possible. Stiles’ head is at the crook of his neck and when Derek turns his head a little, he can bury his nose into Stiles’ hair and the smell of shampoo and Stiles drowns out the smell of smoke.

Derek can feel himself relax under the familiar weight, his body enveloped in Stiles’ embrace, and his heart overflowing with love for his boyfriend. While a part of Derek feels bad that the evening turned out very different from what Stiles had probably planned, he also feels so very loved by how easily Stiles accepted what Derek told him. He didn’t stop to ask more, he simply got up and blew the candles out.

Someone could argue that it’s the decent thing to do and there’s no real need for Derek to feel grateful, but he doesn’t have the best history when it comes to relationships.

“What do you want to do?” Stiles asks, but he doesn’t move from his place on top of Derek.

“Can we stay like this for a moment?” Derek asks. He feels calmer but some uneasiness still remains and he doesn’t want to move yet. Doesn’t want to let go of Stiles.

“Of course,” Stiles says. “I have to warn you though. I might fall asleep.”

“I don’t mind,” Derek replies and starts moving his hands up and down Stiles’ back. He realises that it’s been a long day for Stiles, with the college classes he had early in the morning and the drive he had to make to Beacon Hills. Normally he wouldn’t be able to stay still for long, eventually his hands would start to wander or he’d start squirming around, but now he stays still and Derek listens to his heart slowing down, noticing his own doing the same.

He pulls the blanket from the back of the couch over them when Stiles falls asleep and it doesn’t take long until he follows.

The next time Stiles cooks them a romantic dinner the living room is lit up with fairy lights instead of candles and upon noticing them Derek hugs him tight, hoping it conveys the love and gratitude he feels for Stiles’ easy understanding.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a moment, I'd love to hear your thoughts! 💙
> 
> I also have a [tumblr](https://sugarandspace.tumblr.com) and a [twitter](https://twitter.com/sugarandspace_)!


End file.
